How did I ever do without you?
by Oxy
Summary: Another Harry/Cho story. Cho wants people to see the real her, not just her looks. Harry can do just that.
1. Dudley, Dursleys, Damned

**A/N: All characters, sets and character personas belong to J.K.Rowling. Read and Review, please.**

**Chapter 1: Dudley, Dursleys, Damned**

Harry woke up at seven in the morning, on a beautiful Saturday, August the tenth. He put on his glasses, took a look at Hedwig who was already sleeping in her cage (owls go out at night to sleep...) and looked out the window. It was a bright, sunny morning yet again. Kids will probably be outside playing foot-ball, skipping ropes and running around enjoying their vacation while he was locked up in this muggle home. To top things off, Dumbledore had forbidden him to leave his house, or even get away over 10 metres. Dumbledore is paranoid, thought Harry. Then again, Voldemort had risen once again, and his Death Eaters probably want to kill him. Harry sighed. Neither Ron, nor Hermione have written in weeks. He was truly lonely. He had no one. And now, he had to grieve the death of Cedric Diggory, for which he felt he was obviously responsible. 

'Breakfast, Dudley!' yelled Aunt Petunia from downstairs who was already wide awake, while Harry was still slightly tired.

'Breakfast, Vernon!' yelled Aunt Petunia from downstairs. There was something in her voice... Harry couldn't quite identify it, yet.

'HARRY! WHY AREN'T YOU DOWNSTAIRS YET? IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST! IF I HAVE TO...'. She kept screaming at the top of her lungs. Harry now knew... Oh, yeah. She was angry. No, not angry. Livid. She was going to shred him to pieces today. She needed to relieve her stress, and he was the perfect dummy for it. He was, bluntly, screwed.

Uncle Vernon turned the television set on. He put on the weather channel. It was going to be a warm day. Warm was an understatement. It was going to be hot. Steaming. It was going to be nearly 37 degrees celcius (nearly 100 fahrenheit). Everybody groaned when they heard. Everyone except Harry, that is. Everyone was now picking idly at their food not really enjoying any of it, even though his Aunt prepared more of a buffet for them than a breakfast.

Harry, however, finished his breakfast with such speed that everyone was looking at him. Then again, all he had to eat was half an apple. Nevertheless, he enjoyed every bite of it. They've been starving him. They knew it, and he knew it. He also knew that if he would say anything, or even look the wrong way, they wouldn't give him anything more to eat for the rest of the day. Without even glancing into any one of their eyes since he knew what would await him if he did, he excused himself from the table, washed up his own dish and ran up the stairs. He then proceeded to close his door, and jump on his bed. He was feeling exceptionally sad. Still, his friends persisted at not sending him any letters. He'll have known them for 5 years soon, and they did such a thing to him. He couldn't believe it. How was he going to last through two more weeks without any communication with his closest friends? He then proceeded to writing letters to each of them. He took out parchment, ink, and a quill. He then sat down at his desk, and wrote:

_'Dear Ron,'_

He paused. What was he going to write? Was he going to beg them to take him home like they usually did? No, he was strong, he thought. Yeah, he could take this. __

_'How are you? I've been here, cooped up for weeks without any word from either you or Hermione. _

_What's going on? The Dursleys are starving me again. Could you please ask your mom for something_

_to eat? All I'm getting lately are fruits and water. How are things over at your place? Do you think _

_I'll be able to join you guys anytime soon? The Dursleys aren't exactly my favorite company._

_Well, write back soon,_

_Harry'_

He then rolled the parchment up. Instinctively, Hedwig got out of her cage and landed on Harry's desk, and then stuck out her leg. 

'No, Hedwig, wait. You'll be dropping off two letters at a time.'

Hedwig hooted in response to notify him of her acknowledgement. Harry then took the other piece of parchment, and starting writing.

_'Dear Hermione,_

_How are'ya? I've been wondering why you guys (you and Ron) haven't written anything. I'm worried._

_The Dursleys are starving me, again. Could you please ask your parents for something to eat? I didn't_

_really get anything to eat for the past few days... By the way, Ron might ask me to stay over at his _

_place, so if your owl can't find me at place, I'll probably be there._

_Bye,_

_Harry'_

Well, it's not the greatest, Harry thought, but it would do it's job. He then attached the two letters to Hedwig, one on each leg, and sent the snowy white owl off. Now all Harry had to do, or could do, was wait. Nothing more to do than that. So, he did. An hour passed, two hours... Five hours later, Aunt Petunia called from downstairs. Harry got up, and went downstairs. He found out that he was supposed to do the gardening. At least this would get his mind off his friends, he thought. He didn't realize what kind of a torture this was until he stepped outside. It was noon. After over an hour of working, Harry began to feel dizzy. This wasn't human. He dealt with it, though, not trying to show that he was becoming weaker every second. He wouldn't want anyone looking at him, like this. The Great Harry Potter, he thought. Who would believe he was enslaved by muggles? He looked terrible, and he felt even worse. What if Cho saw him? 

He stopped. Where did that come from? Why Cho? What? He continued working for fear of Dudley spotting him, who was reading a comic book in the shade on a very comfortable-looking chair. He brought his thoughts back to Cho. He knew he liked her, but why would she see him working like a fool? Suddenly, he stopped again. This was a more abrupt stop than the previous one. He was on all fours. His right arm, on which he had most of his weight on, bent even more abruptly then he stopped, and he rolled over on his right. That was all he remembered. He had fainted.

When Harry woke up, the following day, he was in his bedroom. He saw what seemed to be like three figures sitting on a single chair... He then proceeded to put on his glasses, and saw that it wasn't three figures, but a single one. It was Dudley. Dudley was getting so wide, he easily weighed more than Harry, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia put together. Dudley looked at Harry for a moment, and then proceeded to scream. 

'MOM, DAD!!!! HE'S UP!!!! HE GOT UP!!!!'

Dudley screamed so loud that Harry even closed his eyes and covered his ears. When his eyelids slid up, Dudley was gone. He then heard two pairs of footsteps run up the stairs, and saw two figures barge into his room. It was Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. They were looking at Harry as though he was a rag, but there was something different about this rag. They were actually worried!

'Harry. What in the bloody hell were you thinking?' asked Vernon.

'Is it my fault you two are trying to kill me?' Harry snapped back at his Uncle.

Vernon did nothing but grunt, and then led himself and his wife out the room. He slammed the door as hard as he could, and then screamed through the walls.

'You're staying in there until we have to take you to that stupid school of yours.'

Harry didn't say anything. He didn't want to give them any form of satisfaction.

The following week, Hedwig came back, but with no response. He should have made her peck the two to death until they wrote a reply. He wasn't going to stay at Ron's. He still didn't get any food, and he was losing sanity. He had no contact whatsoever with the Wizarding world, and he thought his friends had abandonned him. Just then, an owl came in. Harry took off the parchment attached to it's leg, and as soon as he did, it flew off. The letter was from Dumbledore. It read:

'_Dear Harry,_

_I'm sorry for not writing anything over the summer. I am also sorry for withholding letters that were sent_

_by both Ron and Hermione. They are worried about you, Harry, and so am I. I did it for your safety. I'm _

_sorry if you were deceived, but it was for your own good. Voldemort is back, and you are at great risk._

_I hope to see you soon,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

'So what?' Harry thought.

I'm 'The Boy Who Lived', and I'm strength by the day. By the 30th, Harry could barely stand up. Tomorrow, he would have to not only stand up, but make it to the car, and find Ron and Hermione. From there, he would be okay-- they would help him. He just had to get himself together for that brief period of time. He could do it... he knew he could. He just had to get to Ron and Hermione. He had to.


	2. Sanity and Strength, Rivaled

**A/N: All characters, sets and character personas belong to J.K.Rowling. Read and Review, please.**

**Chapter 2: Sanity and Strength, Rivaled**

The following morning, he woke up to a very tired self. He couldn't move. He forced himself to. He had packed up his things the previous night. He was supposed to bring all his things downstairs... including his trunk. How? He tried his best. He knew that when he just reached the station, he would be alright. Ron and Hermione would be there, waiting for him. He put one hand on one handle of the trunk, and pulled. He pulled with all his might. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally got to the stairs. Vernon was already waiting downstairs.

'Get going, boy!' he snapped.

Anger flowed through Harry's body and mind. He felt like simply lashing out, pulling his wand on everyone, and getting taken to Azkaban. He wouldn't, though, not when he made it this far. He couldn't give up now. He motionned to Uncle Vernon to come help him with his trunk. Just has his Uncle was about to say something, he stopped. Harry didn't know why, but Vernon had just realized how pale he was. He came up the stairs, disgruntled, still thinking if he was doing the right thing by helping, in his mind, a terrible nephew. He picked up the trunk by the handles, and made his way downstairs and to the car. He then put the trunk into the car.  Uncle Vernon then looked at Harry with a 'get-yourself-into-the-effin-car-before-I-smack-you-look'. Harry knew he was in trouble. He had left Hedwig's cage upstairs.

'I'll be right down' said Harry in a pleading voice.

Vernon was livid. He immediately regretted having helped his -terrible- nephew. Harry rushed as fast as his body would allow it up the stairs, which was at a snail's pace, and got Hedwigs cage with Hedwig inside. He started going down the stairs when he tripped over the first step and then tumbled to the very foot of the stairs. He had broken his hand, sprained his ankle and was bleeding from his head, but he couldn't do anything now, or his so very *close* relatives would murder him and never take him back to Hogwarts. He tried to get to the car as fast as his legs would allow, which was again very slow. He dragged his foot behind him as he got up to the car. He then opened the door, and sat down. Relief. He was next to Dudley, but that didn't matter. Dudley was terrified to even look at Harry who was in a state that resembled death.

From in front of the car, he heard a voice full of anger. 'Keep your hands on that cut on your head. Don't drip blood in my car!' Vernon snarled.

Harry was not only supposed to bear the anger, he was also supposed to keep the car clean. Think Cho, he thought... but why? Why did she come back? Was she an angel that was supposed to come and rescue him? If so, she wasn't doing a very good job. Maybe she just hates me for killing Cedric, he thought. He paused. We didn't kill Cedric! a voice in the back of his head spoke. The rest of his mental self replied with a big 'Of course we did!'. Had he truly killed Cedric Diggory, the love of Cho's life? Maybe that was the reason. He then got back to reality, and got to the conclusion that angels were probably non-existant and that it was a stupid to have thought otherwise. Before he realized he was already at King's Cross. Success! He made it!! However, after a few seconds of ecstasy, he couldn't find Ron and Hermione. They usually went through the brick barrier together. Oh well, they must already be waiting beyond it. Maybe they wanted to be alone... I've sensed something between them for a while... That's it. His mind was set, Ron and Hermione would be just beyond the brick barrier between the muggle and Wizarding worlds.

His mind made up, Harry, though greatly pained, took his trunk, put it on a trolley, and made his way to the barrier very slowly, trying not to kill himself and dragging his foot behind. Without even saying goodbye to his relatives, he crossed the barrier, without a problem. Problem... uh, where were Ron and Hermione? Instantly, Harry weakened even more. Why weren't they here? He had been deceived. He fell down. A laugh came from behind him. It was Draco Malfoy.

Harry tried to make out some sort of insult, but he couldn't. He was too weak. It was 5 to 11. He had to get on the train quickly.

Malfoy didn't seem to be interested in Harry anymore. He was starting to walk... towards Harry! Harry exhaled a sigh of relief when Draco took a step over him, stepping with his left leg forward. His right leg, however, hit Harry's ribs with his knee. He had the wind blown out of him. He could barely get up. 4 to 11 o'clock. Four minutes left. He had to act quickly. He started getting up, pushing his trolley towards the train. He then unloaded his trunk with Hedwig's cage on top of it. He didn't know how he did it, but he picked his trunk up and got onto the train. Inside, he looked for an empty compartment. He didn't want to be seen in this state. At the very end of the train, he found a compartment that remained unoccupied. He got in, slid the door shut, and flopped himself on the seat without even putting his trunk onto the luggage 'compartment'. He wasn't sleeping. He couldn't sleep. He had slept for the past week, after fainting. Oh, when he arrived, everything would be okay. For sure, this time. Hagrid was bound to be there. Yes, he was going to be fine. 

Just as he finished consoling himself, which hadn't helped much, someone slid the door open. The soft, gentle, soothing female voice asked if he minded if they shared the compartment. She stopped mid-sentance.

'Harry? Is that you?'

Harry looked up... he didn't expect to see Cho.

'Cho, hi.'

'What happend to you, Harry?'

'Oh, my muggle relatives.' He was gaining power by the sentence.

'You look terrible.' comforting him.

Cho had always seen Harry as 'The Boy Who Lived'. She had always thought he was the shallow guy that saw her for her beauty, but not more. True, she was very beautiful, but that's all that everyone saw in her anymore. They didn't care that she was a Seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, or anything else associated with her, they just saw a beautiful girl whom they wanted to be their girlfriend.

'So, how are you?'

'Fine.' she said, finally taking a seat.

'Well, anyways, do you mind if I take a nap?'

'Uh, no, not really...' she said, a bit shocked. She was sure he was going to be like everyone else, and confess his love to her. Maybe she had been wrong about him.

Harry lied down on the seat opposite to Cho, and began to close his eyes. He didn't feel like sleeping, but with his current condition, and his heart doing somersaults every time Cho spoke a word, he couldn't really bear sitting up. A few minutes later, he opened his eyes, and saw Cho staring at him.

'Yes?' he asked, intrigued.

'Cho?' he insisted... 

'Cho. Hello? Earth to Cho...' he started waving his hands. She hadn't said a word.

'What? Oh, hi Harry!' she finally answered, still looking into his eyes.

'Sorry about that, I, uh, went out of this world.'

'Yeah, I noticed.' he laughed.

Trying to change the subject, she asked where Ron and Hermione were. Harry said he didn't know, which was the truth. They kept talking all the way up to Hogwarts.__


	3. Aerial Maneuver

**Chapter 3: Aerial Maneuver**

**A/N: Since I don't have all the time I'd like on my hands, chapters aren't going to come at any faster a pace :/**

A/N: This chapter is based on the fifth book in the Harry Potter series, 'The Order of The Pheonix'. All characters, sets and character personas belong to J.K.Rowling. 

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers. Yeah, I rarely re-read my texts thoroughly, and I miss a lot of things. In the case of the strength thing, I meant 

'He's losing strength by day.'

If anyone is interested in becoming a beta reader, get me at o2@teamareola.com. Thanks.

--------------

In the Great Hall, when everyone had arrived, Dumbledore noticed Harry and immediately took him to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey healed all of his wounds, but he was still pale. Only food could solve that. So, he went back into the Great Hall, and Dumbledore wasted no time in letting the plates appear with plenty of food. Harry managed to start eating, and from there, it was all-downhill. He was beginning to feel better... And then, something hit him. Depression... why? He didn't know. All he knew was that he wasn't feeling hungry, but that he had to eat to get better. 

From afar, Cho was looking at him. She was still thinking of their conversation in the train. This was a guy who understood her. She could speak to him freely. She could confide her greatest fears and secrets in him, and she knew they would stay safe. She had to see more of him, she thought. But, what if he had already gotten over his crush on her? She would just have to buckle up and go for it. So, after eating, she caught up with him. He was walking with Ron and Hermione. He was still very pale. They were being very careful with him, as if he could fall down at any second. And, he did. Not without cause, though; Draco had pushed him. Cho saw the entire scene. Harry couldn't stand up, Ron and Hermione were already in front of him in defensive positions, staring Malfoy directly in the eyes. 

'What do you want, Malfoy?'

'Oh, nothing. I just think it's amusing to see Hawy Potty falling down like that. I mean, I always thought he was 'The Great Harry Potter', but it turns out he's just 'The Tiny Hawwy Wittle Potty Who Want A Wowwipop.'

Crabe and Goyle snortled. It sounded more like an old man choking, but Draco paid no attention. Pansy Parkinson, who was also with the bunch, was having a fit of laughter. With that, Draco walked away.

'He's a menace' mumbled Ron.

'Yeah. We've got to do something about him.' replied Hermione.

Harry stayed silent until they took him up to the Gryffindor common room. Cho didn't want to interfere.  Back in the Gryffindor common room, Fred and George were in a corner, Seamus, Dean and Neville were talking secretively, and Ginny was on a chair gazing at the fireplace.

'Hi Gin!' yelled Ron. 

She payed no attention. 

'Gin?' he repeated, now a bit worried.

'Ginny! Wake up!' he then shouted in her face.

'What's the use?' sighed Ginny, and with that, she went up to the girl's dormitories. 

'I'll go talk to her, said Hermione.' and followed her. 

Ron and Harry were now alone in the common room. 

'So, should we unpack?' asked Ron?

'What? Yeah, I guess...' Harry answered.

'Mate, ar'ya'lright?' said Ron, with the same note of distress he had when he was speaking to his younger sister.

'No, not really. C'mon, let's go.' he said, in the exact same tone he had used before.

They went up to their dormitories, and saw their four-poster beds. It will be the fifth year they'll have been sleeping in these beds. They didn't mind, though. Every year at Hogwarts was always full of excitement. 

'Ron, where were you two at the train station? I didn't see you guys.' he said, now a bit of accusation in his voice.

'We were in the Prefect's wagon. Sorry Harry, we wanted to tell you, but they wouldn't let us.' replied Ron, apologetically.

'Oh.' Ron was prefect, he thought. Why wasn't I prefect? Oh well, maybe it's for the better. Ron never gets anything. 

They unpacked and spent the rest of the afternoon playing Wizard's chess. They went down to dinner later, and continued playing until nightfall. Harry then went to sleep. Neither Hermione nor Ginny had left the dormitories since they came in.

The following morning, they all went down to breakfast. Ginny still hadn't left the dormitories. Hermione explained to them that she hadn't said a word to her last night, except for repeating 'Why?' over and over. None of them understood what it was supposed to mean, but they didn't pay it much attention.  Instead, they were all discussing how their summer went, and they all apologized for not being able to send letters. Dumbledore had forbidden them. He said it was very important that they didn't send anything, that Voldemort couldn't be monitoring their owls. 

'I nearly died there.' said Harry.

'Really, Harry, I'm sorry.' Hermione pleaded.

'It's okay, it's not your fault, I guess.'

After having ate, they all went to get ready for their first class of the term. Defense Against the Dark Arts.

'I wonder who we'll have as a teacher.' said Harry, who was now feeling much better than the previous day.

'Yeah.' Ron and Hermione replied in unison.

They entered the classroom.

There was an old lady sitting in the front of the classroom. She was behind a big wooden desk. On it was a sign out of gold engraved with the name 'D. Umbridge'. Everyone seemed shocked as they looked around their once previously dark-classroom, which was now decorated in a bright pink. 

'Who is this old hag?' said Ron, disgusted by the mere look of his new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

'No idea.' replied Harry, rather flatly.

After everyone came in, the old woman slowly rised.

'Beautiful morning, isn't it?' she said, sickengly sweetly.

'Alright then, wands away and take out your books and read pages one through ten. There will be no need for talking.' she said as she made her way back to her giant desk and sat down on a grand wooden chair.

Everyone would have thought Hermione would be the first one reading, but she, surprisingly hadn't touched her book and had raised her hand.  Slowly, Umbridge peered up and looked at her. 

'Yes, dear?'

'So, we're not going to be using our wands at all this class?' Hermione asked in an accusatory voice.

'No, dear.' Dolores replied and looked back down at her desk, where she was writing.

'Will we be using our wands at all during the term?' asked Hermione again.

'No, dear.' the teacher said, now a bit of annoyance within her.

'Well then, how are we supposed to learn?' 

'If you know the theory well enough, you will succeed your O.W.Ls.' said Umbridge. 

Hermione was livid. She opened her book furiously and started reading.

'Dear, what is your name?' asked Umbridge, now looking at her through her spectacles.

'Her-mi-one' she replied through gritted teeth, with obvious anger.

'There is no need for anger, Miss... ?' 

'G r a n g e r.' 

'Right, Miss Granger. Do not fret. Ten points from Gryffindor for unnecessary anger.'

Hermione had fire in her eyes. Neither Harry nor Ron had ever seen her like this. She was absolutely furious.

After the lesson, as soon as they had left the classroom, Hermione started as fast as she could up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, to get her things for her next class; Transfiguration.

And so, they went from course to course, ending the day rather quickly. During dinner, nobody saw Harry. 

'I think I heard he was going to go fly around a bit on his broom.' Ron told Hermione. As he was saying this, Cho was passing with her friend, Marietta. As soon as she caught drift of Harry, she turned back and headed for the Quidditch pitch.

She took a seat in the stands. Marietta was coming as soon as she had gotten a quick bite to eat. 

Harry was already in the air. He hadn't noticed Cho as she entered the stadium; he was too busy pulling out of his loop. He then took a lot of altitude, and followed up with a 90-degree dive. He didn't pull out of it until the last moment possible. He made a few barrel rolls, and circled around in the air afterwards. He dived, and he pulled out. He was enjoying himself so much, but not as much as Cho was enjoying watching him. 'He's amazing...' she thought. 'He's performing art right in front of me. He's a genius...' she continued to think. At that moment, Marietta came onto the pitch and looked at Cho, who looked in like she was in very deep thought, staring at Harry. She walked over to her.

'Don't tell me you like him.' said Marietta.

'Well, uh...'

'You're never going to have a chance with him!' she giggled. Cho frowned.

Harry heard Marietta giggling from his broomstick, and then caught Cho's eyes. 

'Oh no, he must think we're saying bad things about him.' Cho said, worried.

But Harry didn't stop flying. He simply made a faint sort of smile and continued doing his acrobatics.

'See it?' Cho asked.

'See what?'

'My heart. It's with him now.'


	4. Falling Tears

**Chapter 4: Falling Tears**

**A/N: All characters, sets and character personas belong to you-know-who (no, not Voldemort, dummies)**

**A/N: Hehe. Don't worry. She ain't gettin him yet'. It's gonna take a while (3 chapters, I was thinking?). I'm more keen on making her suffer, etc. You know, a few deaths, a Cruciatus curse here or there, the works :]**

**A/N: To one of my reviewers. Yep. This is a complete ripoff of the 5th book. In the 5th book, Cho *falls magically in love with Harry*. Yep. In the 5th book, there is NO Order of the Pheonix. Nope. Oh, and this absolutely *ISN'T* a romance fic between Harry and Cho. Nope. Not at all. This is all about Harry's 5th year at school, and how he spoiler Dumbledore nearly kills Voldemort /spoiler. Well, sorry I couldn't please you. Hey, at least you got a paragraph dedicated to ya! How about some constructive criticism? **

**A/N: Sorry for not updating for so long. I've had problems. I'll try and update every week now. **

The following morning, Harry woke up in his four-poster bed. He was tired and exhausted. All that flying last night had made his muscles burn in protest, but he drove them. For Cho. Why, though? He would never get her. He now regretted not having walked off the field when he saw Marietta Edgecomb laughing. It was most probably at him, he thought. I'm so thick. Why didn't I just leave? Just because she was there (Cho).

He got up and got dressed. It was very early, around 6 in the morning. He headed down to the common room to find Ron and Hermione already sitting there. As soon as he put one food down on the stairway from the dormatories to the common room, they jumped up in unison and turned their heads back to look at him. Ron was first to catch his eye, and Harry knew exactly what his friend meant.

'Oops, I forgot, my --uh--, sweater up in the common room. I better go get it. 

As Harry was going back upstairs to the dormitories, he saw a large, brown owl pecking on the window in the common room. He decided to let it in. As if by coincidence, the letter was addressed to him. He quickly untied it off the owl's leg and ran up the stairs. He climbed on his four poster, and ripped the letter open. It wrote:

'_Dear Harry_

_How are you? I hope nothing went wrong over at the Dursley's. I wanted to write you, but Dumbledore _

_forbade (...?) me. So how is everything? How are Ron and Hermione? _

_I mainly wrote to tell you that I'm going way south. I suspect that they're on to me, since_

_there've been Wizards from the Minitry patrolling the area where I am (I can't disclose that information _

_to you). I should be back... In the meanwhile, keep safe._

_Bye,_

_Snuffles_'

Well that's just great, thought Harry. Not only were his two best friends going to be snogging all the time, and therefore have no time for him, Sirius had also been discovered. Harry sighed and went back downstairs. By now, he was sure that Ron and Hermione would have gotten more than enough time alone. He walked much slower than he did previously, and saw his two best friends talking in a secluded area of the common room. He walked up over to them.

'Hello, early birds.' said Harry.

'You're not so late yourself.' Ron replied.

'Well, we still have another hour til' we have to get down to breakfast...' continued Harry. He wanted to do something with both of them, but he also wanted to give them space. This was hard already.

'Yeah... Want to play Wizzard's chess?' said Ron, and then glanced at Hermione to receive a sort of verification that he could. He was like another pet to him. 

'Sure. You don't mind, do you Mione?'

'No, not at all. I'll watch.'

They set up the pieces and started their game. Ron made a surprising rook opening, while Harry opened with his knights. In the end, Ron had the edge since Harry didn't counter his technique, and won.

'Good game. Care for another one?'

'How about we get down to the Great Hall?' purposed Hermione.

'Okay.' the two boys said in unison.

They went down, and still little students were waiting. 

'Any minute now...' said Ron.

At that moment, Cho came in. Harry saw her from across the Great Hall. He was facing the entrance. 

****Cho's Point of View****

I've got to talk to him. Look at him. Those big emerald green eyes... I'm going over there. 

'Save me a spot, okay Marietta?'

'Okay. What are yo--' 

I'm not going to listen to her. My nerve only lasts a short while. I'm going too fast. He'll think I'm a freak. Okay, this looks like a nice pace. He's looking at me. Quick, Cho, think! Oh great, my shoes are something amazing to look at. What am I going to say? 'Hi Harry, I--'

'Hey, Cho!'

What now!? I'm feet away from him.

'Cho, wait up!' it was Roger Davies, captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team (sorry if I got this wrong...). 

Fine, I'll talk to him, but only because he's captain of my team, and only for a few seconds.

'Hi, Roger.'

'Cho, come on, I have something to show you.'

He grabbed my hand. What is this?

'Hey, let go!'

'Oh, sorry.'

That hurt. He's so insensitive.

'Listen, not now, okay?'

'No, you have to come Cho!'

'But, I wanted to go-'

'Just come.'

ARGH. I hate him. I think I'm going to hex the bludgers at our next practice to hit him in the head.

****End Cho's Point of View****

He lead her to the Ravenclaw table, where there was still no one...

'Surprise!'

People popped their heads out from under the table. Everyone from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, in fact. Harry saw all this.

'What for?' Cho said, stuttering.

'Well,' started Marietta

'We all noticed you were a bit down lately, because of Cedric, so I came up with the idea of throwing you a little surprise! Tonight, we're going to treat you to George's stash of sweet. Choclate frogs, Bertie Botts... Won't it be fun? Oh, hi George!'

Cho was enraged! She wasn't down at all. She was sick and tired of people that pittied her. She was fine, except everyone always kept reminding her of Cedric by asking 'Are you alright?'. She didn't like Cedric at all. He was her friend, sure, but nothing more. Just because they went to the Yule Ball together didn't mean that they were destined for each other. She didn't know what to say. She wanted to take that dratted Edgecomb by the throat and strangle her. Put a hex on everyone there.

'Cho? Hello? Choooo... Wake up.'

She had to think her words through first. Was she going to tell all of them off? Confess about Cedric? She didn't know what to do. She looked around the Great Hall. Every single house table was now nearly full. She glanced first at the Slytherin's table, then at the Hufflepuff one, and finally at the Gryffindor table. Everyone was looking at her as though she had been given a great treat. Even the Slytherins. Even Malfoy. Was there no one that understood? Right before she wanted to look back at Marietta, who was now poking her very hard in the shoulder, she saw a still very pale boy. He looked even whiter due to the contrast between his face and his hair. He wasn't looking at her. He had his head down. What was he thinking? 

****Harry's Point of View****

She must be really angry. I don't know who would think they're doing her any good. Well, that does it. Hermione and Ron do.  Look at them, staring at her in awe. She still hadn't said anything. I bet she's livid. What's she doing anyway? I didn't hear a word since the big 'Surprise!'. That's it, I'm looking up.

Why's she looking at me? Why's the entire Great Hall now looking at me... Uh, something's wrong with this picture. 

'Uh, Ron...?'

'Harry...'

'Why's everyone looking at me?...'

****End Harry's Point of View****

After what seemed like hours of staring at Harry, a bell finally rang, announcing that the entire school had been late for class. Students got their things together as fast as they possibly could, each and every one of them afterwards racing towards their classes. Nobody had received detention, for the sole reason that to fit the entire school into one classroom would have been impossible, and to spread it out so that each group of students would have another day would take months.

That night, Cho cried herself to sleep. She had been thinking of Cedric, of Marietta, of the school's thoughts, of today... of Harry. Yes, she had definately been thinking about Harry. So what if everyone thought she would betray Cedric if she went out with Harry? Tomorrow, she would definately talk to him.


End file.
